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To J. S. Burdon Sanderson 1 October [1873]¹

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Oct 1.

My dear D^r. Sanderson.

I hear from Frank that Drosera has been behaving perversely.² I write a line, as it may possibly have a bearing on this perversity, viz that the motor influence is sent from the excited glands more quickly & completely in a longitudinal than in a transverse direction in the lamina of the leaf.³

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Yours very sincerely | Ch Darwin

Footnotes

The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 9 September [1873].

CD had sent Drosera plants to Burdon Sanderson (see letter to J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 9 September [1873]). See letter from Francis Darwin, [30 September 1873].

For CD’s experiments on the transmission of the motor impulse in the tentacles of Drosera, see Insectivorous plants, pp. 236–54.

Bibliography

Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875.

Summary

Hears from Frank [Darwin] that Drosera behaves perversely. Suggests that motor influence may move longitudinally away from the excited glands.

Letter details

Letter no.: DCP-LETT-9081
From: Charles Robert Darwin
To: John Scott Burdon Sanderson, 1st baronet
Sent from: Down
Source of text: University of British Columbia Library, Rare Books and Special Collections (Darwin - Burdon Sanderson letters RBSC-ARC-1731-1-7)
Physical description: ALS 1p

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9081,” accessed on 5 June 2025, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9081.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 21

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